200 erring foreigners deported in the first 7 months of 1997

JAKARTA (JP): The Immigration Office deported 200 foreigners in the first seven months of this year for allegedly violating immigration regulations.

"The largest number were Malaysians who illegally entered Indonesia via Nunukan (East Kalimantan) from Tawau (Sabah)," department spokesman Mursanuddin A. Ghani told The Jakarta Post yesterday.

Mursanuddin, however, refused to give further details.

Last month, the immigration office arrested more than a dozen women who were caught red-handed working as prostitutes.

The office deported a Chinese acupuncturist yesterday arrested last month for misusing his business visa.

Another foreigner, a Canadian, arrested last Friday for illegally selling print ink, will be deported via a Japanese Airlines flight today.

According to the director of the department's control and execution unit, Zaiman Nurmatias, Canadian Benyamin Pang also possessed an Indonesian ID card issued by the Jatiuwung district in Tangerang.

Pang, however, only had a two-month short visit visa, Zaiman said.

The Chinese acupuncturist, Ge Shu Han, who dubbed himself "the God of Needles", was arrested on July 29 by undercover immigration officers, who pretended to be clients at the Cahaya Mandiri clinic on Jl. KH Zainal Arifin in Central Jakarta.

According to spokesman Mursanuddin, the acupuncturist's visit to Indonesia was sponsored by the owner of the clinic. Mursanuddin, however, did not disclose the identity or status of the owner.

During questioning, Han said he arrived in Indonesia on July 9 using a business visa. It was his first visit. Han showed his paperwork which described him as professor of acupuncture in Lianing, China.

Mursanuddin said the foreigners were arrested based on public reports which said they had run illegal businesses without suitable work permits. (bsr)